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Windows Watcher

Preaching the evils of “illegal shut-down” ... by Tom S. Bair, Jr.

In the old days (old days being defined as about six years ago or so), some computer users had the bad habit of turning off their PCs without first shutting Windows down. This increased the odds of corrupted system files, lost data clusters, and messed up File Allocation Tables (FAT) on the hard drive.

Of course we all know that when powering up after an "illegal shut-down," Scandisk would automatically activate and check the hard drive for errors before giving the user access to the operating system. But sometimes Scandisk could not fix the problem, and you were forced to hopefully reinstall Windows over your existing version to rid yourself of any corrupted system files. If that didn't work, then you had to format and fresh install your Windows.

Yet even if Scandisk saved your bacon, you had to wait until it completed its scan of your hard drive. This wasn't so bad in the pioneer days of 500 megabyte hard drives, and was somewhat acceptable in the days of the 2 and 4 gigabyte hard drives. But today with the 40 to 120 gigabyte hard drives which have become common on our computers, you are waiting for what seems hours for Scandisk to finish checking your hard drive. Almost faster just to reinstall Windows over itself, huh?

I did my part and moaned and groaned at people about shutting Windows down properly. I suffered many sessions of dizziness standing on that soap box, preaching the evils of "illegal shut-down." And the problem seemed to go away in my view of reality.

Now the same problem is arising again, yet for a different reason. With the great advances in Power Management combined with the energy saving features of our computer hardware, folks are leaving their PCs on all the time. Why shut down and spend the few moments powering back up when you can just walk away and let the computer enter sleep mode? It comes back to life lickity-split with just the shake of a mouse.

Power outage. Brown-outs. Temporary disruption of electrical service. Not a problem if you have your computer plugged into a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply). Yet most people don't. Guess what happens to the computer when the lights flicker? It's Scandisk time all over again.

So now I am asking you who keep your systems on 24/7 to install a UPS. You can find UPS units among our advertisers for as low as $41. I recommend you spend around $150 for a model that comes supplied with software to automatically shut down your PC after 5 to 8 minutes of loss of power.

If you wish to get a bit of background on the topic of UPSs and power outages, check out Ted Mittelstaedt's January 1997 The Network Community column in the Computer Bits Online archives. Navigate to http://www.computerbits.com/archive/1997/0100/lan9701.html.

CD Burner Patch

[XP] Some CDs burned by Windows XP's inbuilt software cannot be read. This is a problem with Microsoft's CD burning software built into XP. If you are experiencing this trouble on your system, you can download the patch from the Microsoft Download Center. Navigate to:

http://www.Microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=37763

I strongly recommend that you only apply this patch if you are actually suffering from burner trouble.

Remove Splash Screen in OE6

[ME,XP] When Outlook Express starts up, you get to stare at the same old opening screen while the program is loading. Would you like not to have to see the opening screen anymore? Let's fix it with a Registry file.

1. Click on the 'Start' button.
2. Click on 'All Programs' ('Programs' in ME).
3. Highlight 'Accessories' and click on 'Notepad'.
4. Type Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 and press 'Enter'.
5. Press the 'Enter' key once again so that you generate a blank line below the first line (Step 4).
6. Type [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{2E449F6D-D8EE-4283-A695-90B38A39DB97}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0]
7. Press the 'Enter' key. Note that there is only one space in the line above, between Outlook and Express.
8. Press the 'Enter' key again to generate a blank line.
9. Type "NOSplash"=dword:00000001
10. Press the 'Enter' key. Note that there are 7 zeros in the dword value above.
11. Click on 'File' in the Top Menu of Notepad.
12. Click on 'Save As...'.
13. Click on the DownArrow to the right of the box titled "Save as type:".
14. In the drop-down list, click on "All Files(*.*)".
15. In the "File name:" box, type nosplash.reg.
16. Insure that "My Documents" is in the location box next to 'Save in:'.
17. Click on the 'Save' button.
18. Run Windows Explorer by navigating to Start|Programs|Assessories|Windows Explorer.
19. If you are not already in "My Documents" folder, click on the "My Documents" icon in the left pane of Windows Explorer.
20. Locate and double-click on nosplash.reg.
21. Depending on which version of Windows you are running, you will be asked if you wish to "merge" or "add" this information to your Registry in a pop-up window. Click on the 'Yes' button. The information in this file will be updated to your registry.
22. Exit all programs and reboot your computer.

Next time you run Outlook Express, you won't have to stare at the opening screen anymore.

Searching Multiple CDs

[95/98/SE/ME/2K/XP] Have you used Windows Explorer or My Computer to search for a photo or file somewhere in a stack of floppies or CDs? Each time you inserted a new disk/CD, did you click out of the drive to another drive and back again just to update the contents?

There's an easier way. After inserting the new disk or CD, just hit the F5 key. This will "Refresh" your drive contents. This will make searching your floppys and CD-Rs much faster.

Secure Your PC

[2K] If you're leaving your PC unattended for a bit, lock your computer so others can't snoop at what you are doing.

1. Press and hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys together.
2. Press the Delete key. The Windows Security dialog box appears.
3. Click on 'Lock Computer'. The 'Computer Locked' dialog box appears.
4. When you return to your PC and are ready to unlock the computer, press and hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys together as you press the Delete key. The 'Unlock Computer' dialog box appears.
5. Type your password. You will notice an asterisk appearing on the screen for each character you type. This is to prevent others from seeing what your password is.
6. Click the 'OK' button.

Adjusting Keyboard Options

[98/SE/ME/XP] Yes, I kid you not. There are a couple of keyboard options you can adjust to suit your preference. They are:

(A) Repeat delay: A measure of a period of time you must hold down a key before that character repeats.

(B) Repeat rate: A measure of how many times per second a character will repeat once you've held down the key long enough to begin repeating.

(C) Cursor blink rate: This setting controls how fast the cursor blinks on and off.

To access these keyboard settings, do the following:

1. Click on the 'Start' button.
2. Click on 'Control Panel' (XP) or 'Settings' and then 'Control Panel, (98/SE/ME).
3. Click on the Keyboard icon.
4. In Windows XP, you will see the three adjustment slider bars immediately. In the older versions of Windows you will need to click on the 'Speed' tab before seeing the slider bars. Adjust them to your liking.

XP Volume Control

[XP] Tim Skelton wants to know how to put the little speaker icon for volume control adjustments back on his taskbar. He had it next to his clock in the bottom right corner of Windows ME's taskbar. He cannot find it anywhere in XP, though.

If Tim (and others who share Tim's desire) does the following, the speaker icon will return to the taskbar where it belongs:

1. Click on the 'Start' button.
2. Click on the 'Control Panel'.
3. Click the 'Sounds and Audio Devices' icon.
4. Click on the check box next to 'Place Volume Icon in the Taskbar'.
5. Click the 'OK' button to close the window.

Creating Passwords

[95/98/SE/ME/NT/2K/XP] Over the years, I've been asked advice on how to come up with a password. We all know that weak passwords will make your computer vulnerable to intruders.

I've gained the opinions of many professionals over the years on the do's and don't do's of passwords. Having worked on several thousand PCs during that time, I've had opportunity to be exposed to the passwords created by the average computer user.

My advice is to make sure your password meets the following criteria:

(A) Make sure your password is at least seven characters long -- preferably ten characters or more.

(B) Have at least one character that is uppercase, one lowercase, a number, and a symbol like $, *, or #.

(C) Insure that your new password is entirely different from your previous passwords.

(D) Do not use any names, usernames, or nicknames.

(E) Do not have your password contain any common words or names found in a dictionary.

(F) Do not try using your address, Social Security number, birth date, or pet's name as your password.

(G) Change your password at least every six months.

If you find it difficult to come up with a strong password, do what my mother does. She saves every AOL CD that she receives in the mail. Every third month she will take the supplied password from one of the AOL mailings and use it.

If she runs short of the AOL CD mailings, she will pick up one from the display stand in several stores that sell PC-related items. I have to admire her method of finding a use for all those AOL mailings.

About the Author

Please feel free to email the author with your comments about this article: Tom S. Bair, Jr.